Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba's Bryant Maki hauls in a pass from Ethan Silverstone in the end zone against Sault, Ont. Korah as Escanaba's Grant LaMarche (11) and Korah's Noah Grasley (3) look on Friday at Escanaba. Esky is ranked No. 1 in the large school division in the first U.P. poll after starting 3-0.

ESCANABA — After three weeks of the high school football season, two local teams sit atop their respective divisions in the first U.P. poll voted on by the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Those teams are Escanaba and North Central, which are both unbeaten. The Eskymos are No. 1 in the large school division and the Jets are No. 1 in the eight-player poll.

The Eskymos — who received five of eight first-place votes — have looked dominant in the early going, starting the season with double-digit wins over Alpena, Petoskey and Sault, Ont. Korah. Esky hosts Marquette in its Great Northern Conference opener Friday night at 7 p.m.

The only other unbeaten in the large school division is Calumet, which comes in at No. 2. The Copper Kings blew out Gogebic and Negaunee before winning a close one against Westwood last week.

Menominee and Kingsford sit at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, and Gladstone is tied for No. 5 with Marquette after starting 2-1. The Braves were 2-0 after thrashing St. Ignace and Gaylord, but suffered a tough 42-6 defeat at the hands of Menominee Friday.

Iron Mountain and Ishpeming received four first-place votes each to be tied atop the small school division. Each team has rolled to two easy wins while also having one narrow escape. The Mountaineers topped Negaunee 17-14 in week one and the Hematites survived Lake-Lunden Hubbell 36-34 in week two.

West Iron County, the other unbeaten, comes in at No. 3. LL-H is fourth and Bark River-Harris is tied with St. Ignace for No. 5 after starting 2-1. The Broncos opened the season with a 56-50 win over Gwinn in overtime, then fell to West Iron before recovering to drop Munising.

The Jets are the only unanimous No. 1 team in the first poll after opening the season by demolishing Cedarville and Rapid River, then following that up with a gritty 20-14 victory over No. 2 Pickford Saturday. Brimley and Forest Park are tied for third, while unbeaten Newberry checks in at No. 5 in its first season in eight-player.

Esky and North Central are also ranked highly in the Associated Press state poll. The Eskymos come in at No. 3 in Division 4 and the Jets are No. 2 in eight-player, trailing only defending state champion Morrice.